List of Puerto Ricans - Physicians and Scientists

Physicians and Scientists

• Joseph M. Acaba Astronaut, scientist, educator
  First Puerto Rican astronaut
• Dr. José Ramón Alcalá, anatomist
  In 1972, Alcalá was appointed assistant professor in the Wayne School of Medicine. There he conducted research which would make him the foremost expert on cell makeup of the human eye lens. Alcalá developed laboratory methods to study the histology of ocular tissue, which ultimately helped to explain the development of cataracts, among other maladies of the eye
• Dr. Carlos Albizu Miranda Psychologist, educator
  First Hispanic Educator to have a North American University renamed in his honor and one of the first Hispanics to earn a PhD in Psychology in the United States.
• Dr. Ricardo Alegría Anthropologist, archaeologist and educator
  "Father of Modern Puerto Rican Archaeology".
• Dr. Bailey K. Ashford doctor, parasitologist, author and soldier.
  Ashford, a Colonel in the U.S. Army, arrived in Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War and made the island his home. He organized and conducted a parasite treatment campaign, which cured approximately 300,000 persons (one-third of the Puerto Rico population) and reduced the death rate from this anemia by 90 percent.
• Dr. Pedro Beauchamp Surgeon
  The first Puerto Rican specialist certified by the American Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Board, who performed the first in vitro fertilization (IVF) technique on the island in 1985.
• Dr. Víctor Manuel Blanco Astronomer
  In 1959, Blanco discovered a "Blanco 1", a galactic cluster. Blanco was the second Director of the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, which has the largest 4-m telescope in the Southern Hemisphere, In 1995, the telescope was dedicated in his honor and named the "Víctor M. Blanco Telescope" and is also known as the "Blanco 4m"
• Dr. Rafael L. Bras Former chair of Civil Engineering at MIT
  One of the world's leading experts in hydrometeorology and global warming.
• Anthony M. Busquets Electronic engineer, aerospace technologist
  Busquets is involved in the development and application of multifunction control/display switch technology in 1983 and Development and application of a microprocessor-based I/O system for simulator use in 1984.
• Dr. Carlos E. Chardón a.k.a. the "Father of Mycology in Puerto Rico"
  Chardón is the first Puerto Rican mycologist. Discovered the aphid "Aphis maidis", the vector of the mosaic of sugar cane, in 1922. Author of the "Chardón Plan" and first Puerto Rican to hold the position of Chancellor of the University of Puerto Rico.
• Dr. Nitza Margarita Cintron Scientist
  Chief of NASA's (JSC) Space and Health Care Systems Office.
• Dr. Antonia Coello Novello
  First Hispanic and first woman U.S. Surgeon General (1990–93).
• Dr. Martín Corchado
  Physician, medical researcher, and president of the Autonomist Party of Puerto Rico.
• Dr. José F. Cordero Pediatrician
  Cordero is the founding director of the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia.
• Dr. Milagros J. Cordero pediatrician
  She is the founder and President of Team Therapy Services For Children (ITT’S for Children)
• Dr. María Cordero Hardy physiologist, educator and scientist, br>Cordero Hardy's research on vitamin E helped other scientists understand about how the vitamin works in the human body.
• Dr. Juan R. Correa-Pérez PhD, scientist, clinical andrologist and embryologist
  Dr. Correa-Pérez is a scientist who is credited with becoming the first clinical Andrologist and Embryologist in Puerto Rico.
• Dr. Juan R. Cruz NASA scientist
  Played an instrumental role in the design and development of the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) parachute.
• Dr. Manuel De la Pila Iglesias
  Multi-faceted physician who specilized in various medical disciplines. Introduced the first EKG and X-ray machines into Puerto Rico. Founded a medical clinic that today is a respected medical center in Ponce, Puerto Rico. He is considered to be "one of the giants of Puerto Rican medicine".
• Dr. Alfonso Eaton Mechanical Engineer, Aero-Space Technologist
  First Puerto Rican to work for NASA.
• Angelo Falcón Political scientist
  Author of "Atlas of Stateside Puerto Ricans" (2004) and co-editor of the book, "Boricuas in Gotham: Puerto Ricans in the Making of Modern New York City" (2004).
• Dr. Enectalí Figueroa-Feliciano Astronaut applicant and astrophysicist in NASA
  Figueroa pioneered the development of position-sensitive detectors.
• Dr. Orlando Figueroa Mechanical engineer at NASA
  previously the NASA Mars Czar Director for Mars Exploration and the Director for the Solar System Division in the Office of Space Science at NASA Headquarters is now the Director, Applied Engineering & Technology at the NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center (as the "Director of Engineering" he manages the full scope of engineering activities at Goddard.
• Dr. Adolfo Figueroa-Viñas Astrophysicist at NASA
  Figueroa-Viñas is the first Puerto Rican astrophysicist at NASA working in solar plasma physics. As a senior research scientist he is involved in many NASA missions such as Wind, SOHO, Cluster and MMS projects in which he is the author and co-author of numerous scientific papers in his field.
• Dr. José N. Gándara
  Lead physician attending to the wounded of the Ponce Massacre, and later the expert witness at the trials of the accused Nacionalistas as well as before the Hays Commission. Held numerous government positions, including Secretary of Health of Puerto Rico. He was also one of the founders of the Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico.
• Dr. Joxel García
  First Puerto Rican Assistant Secretary for Health (ASH), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and an Admiral in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.
• Asdrubal Garcia Ortiz Technology Engineer
  Together with fellow inventors Sunggyu Lee and John R. Wootton, Garcia Ortiz was granted various patents. A sample of these patents includes: US Patent No 6,177,885, "System and method for detecting traffic anomalies", US Patent No 7,186,345, "Systems for water purification through supercritical oxidation", and US Patent No 7,688,605, "Systems and methods for reducing the magnitude of harmonics produced by a power inverter".
• Dr. Mario R. García Palmieri, Cardiologist
  García Palmieri is the first Hispanic to have the distinction of being designated a "Master" by the American College of Cardiology
• Dr. Sixto González Scientist
  First Puerto Rican Director of the Arecibo Observatory the world's largest single dish radio telescope.
• Rosa González, RN,
  Founder of "The Association of Registered Nurses of Puerto Rico" and author of various books related to her field where she denounced the discrimination against women and nurses in Puerto Rico.
• Dr. Isaac González Martínez urologist
  González Martínez was the first Puerto Rican urologist and a pioneer in the fight against cancer in the island.
• Olga D. González-Sanabria NASA engineer
  Is the highest ranking Hispanic at NASA Glenn Research Center and a member of the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame.
• Amri Hernández-Pellerano NASA engineer
  Hernández-Pellerano designs, builds and tests the electronics that will regulate the solar array power in order to charge the spacecraft battery and distribute power to the different loads or users inside various spacecraft at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
• Lucas G. Hortas Aerospace engineer, aerospace technologist
  Hortas is the author and or co-author of over 35 technical papers in the areas of system identification, vibration control and isolation, optimal control design and implementation, optimal actuator/sensor placement, model testing, and experimental verification of control methodologies
• Dr. Ramón E. López Physicist
  Dr. Lopez, a Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Texas at Arlington, is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and recipient of the 2002 Nicholson Medal for Humanitarian Service. He is the co-author of a book on space weather entitled "Storms from the Sun"
• Fernando López Tuero Agricultural scientist and agronomist
  López Tuero discovered the bug (believed at first to be a germ) which was destroying Puerto Rico's sugar canes.
• Carlos A. Liceaga Electronic engineer, aerospace technologist
  Liceaga leads the development of proposal guidelines; and the technical, management, and cost evaluation of the proposals For the Explorer Program.
• Dr. Gerónimo Lluberas Physician, writer, educator, medical missionary
• Dr. Ariel Lugo Scientist and ecologist
  Dr. Lugo is the Director of the International Institute of Tropical Forestry within the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service, based in Puerto Rico. He is a founding Member of the Society for Ecological Restoration and Member-at-Large of the Board of the Ecological Society of America.
• Debbie Martínez Computer engineer, aero-space technologist
  Martinez is the "Flight Systems and Software Branch" software manager for the new Cockpit Motion Facility at NASA Langley Research Center.
• Lissette Martinez Electronic engineer, rocket scientist
  Martinez is the lead electrical engineer for the Space Experiment Module program at the Wallops Flight Facility located in Virginia which is part of NASA's Goddard Flight Facility.
• Dr. Manuel Martínez Maldonado MD; MACP, is a Nephrologist, educator, poet and author
  Martínez Maldonado has authored numerous scientific publications and discovered a natriuretic hormone.
• Dr. Antonio Mignucci
  Marine Biologist and oceanographer. Founder of the Red Caribeña de Varamientos.
• Dr. Edwin Muñiz M.D., Ph.D. and Ed.D.
  Muñiz was the first person of Hispanic heritage to be named Aerospace Physiologist in the United States Air Force and NASA.
• Dr. Carlos Ortiz Longo Mechanical engineer
  Chief of Crew Health Care Systems and Exercise Countermeasures in NASA.
• William G. Pagán Software Engineer and IBM Master Inventor
  One of the most prolific Puerto Rican inventors in history. As of February 2012, he was listed as an inventor on 24 United States patents and just under 90 published patent applications.
• Dr. Joseph O. Prewitt Díaz psychologist
  Prewitt Díaz specialized in psychosocial theory. He was the recipient of the American Psychological Association's 2008 International Humanitarian Award.
• Mercedes Reaves Research engineer and scientist
  Reaves is responsible for the design of a viable full-scale solar sail and the development and testing of a scale model solar sail at NASA Langley Research Center.
• Ron Rivera Inventor and workshop organizer
  Invented life-saving water filters based on pottery.
• Dr. Juan A. Rivero Scientist, educator
  Founded the Dr. Juan A. Rivero Zoo in Mayagüez, has discovered numerous animal species and has written several books.
• Dr. Miriam Rodon-Naveira PhD, Puerto Rican NASA scientist
  Rodón-Naveira was the first Hispanic woman to hold the Deputy Directorship for the Environmental Sciences Division within the National Exposure Research Laboratory.
• Miguel Rodríguez, mechanical engineer,
  Chief of the Integration Office of the Cape Canaveral Spaceport Management Office.
• Dr. Pedro Rodriguez Inventor, Mechanical Engineer
  Rodríguez is the director of a test laboratory at NASA. He invented a portable, battery-operated lift seat for people suffering from knee arthritis.
• Dr. Helen Rodriguez-Trias Physician and activist
  Rodriguez-Trias was a physician and activist. She was the first Latina president of The American Public Health Association, a founding member of the Women's Caucus of the American Public Health Association and the recipient of the Presidential Citizen's Medal.(see also Civil rights activists)
• Dr. Fernando E. Rodríguez Vargas, Dentist, scientist
  Rodríguez Vargas discovered the bacteria which causes dental cavity (See also: Military).
• Monserrate Roman Scientist, microbiologist
  Roman helped build the International Space Station.
• Dr. Gualberto Ruano biotechnology pioneer and founder of Genomas, Inc.
  Ruaño is a pioneer in the field of personalized medicine and the inventor of molecular diagnostic systems, Coupled Amplification and Sequencing (CAS) System (U.S. patent 5,427,911), used worldwide for the management of viral diseases. Ruaño is President and Founder of Genomas, a genetics-related company and now the bio-tech anchor of Hartford Hospital's Genetic Research Center; he also serves as Director of genetics research at the Center.
• Dr. Eduardo Santiago Delpín Surgeon
  Santiago Delpin wrote the first book in Spanish about organ transplant.
• Dr. Yajaira Sierra Sastre PhD in Nanotechnology
  Sierra Sastre was chosen to take part in a new NASA project that will help to determine why astronauts don’t eat enough, having noted that they get bored with spaceship food and end up with problems like weight loss and lethargy that put their health at risk. She will live for four months isolated in a planetary module to simulate what life will be like for astronauts at a future base on Mars at a base in Hawaii. Sierra Sastre is an aspiring astronaut.
• Dr. Diego R. Solís Physician
  Solís made Puerto Rican medical history when he performed the first simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplant in Puerto Rico.
• Dr. Félix Soto Toro Electrical engineer, astronaut applicant
  Soto Toro developed the Advanced Payload Transfer Measurement System (ASPTMS)(Electronic 3D measuring system).
• Dr. Agustín Stahl Botanist
  Stahl is considered to be Puerto Rico's first renowned scientist, conducted investigations and experiments in the fields of botany, ethnology and zoology.
• Dr. Ramón M. Suárez Calderon Scientist, cardiologist, educator and hematologist
  His investigations led to the identification of the proper and effective treatment of a type of anemia known as Tropical Espru, the application of complex methods, such as electrocardiography and radioisotope, to be used in clinics and the identification and treatment of the disease which causes heart rheumatism.
• Fermín Tangüis Scientist, businessman, agriculturist and
  Tangüis developed the Tanguis cotton in Peru and saved that nation's cotton industry.